Review on 📻 Enhanced BAOFENG UV-82 VHF UHF FM Dual Band Transceiver Two Way Radio by Brian Cooper

I have three different Baofeng models and this is my favorite. I liked the UV-82 for the features, range and price. I use them with my kids so I anticipate accidents and if someone gets hurt it's not the end of the world. Using radios as they come out of the box is illegal due to the standard frequencies and you really don't want to upset professionals using these frequencies for commercial or official purposes. However, frequencies can be easily reprogrammed using CHIRP, which is free software that can be found on the internet. Just watch the 10 minute tutorial video and you can program the channels that go to any home radio you can get from domestic manufacturers. I'm not techy at all and have done this on all my baofengs in minutes. There is a cheaper BF-888 which is fine but the UV-82 has a lot more features including a longer range. There are also one or two more expensive models for family use, the BF-F8/F9, which are slightly more powerful and cost twice as much. I'm not a radio expert but I've done quite a bit of research and range doesn't increase with every additional watt of transmit power, it takes twice as many watts to increase range slightly and then really needs training and licensing. It is more efficient to buy the best antenna available on the network. Don't be fooled by manufacturer claims of 10, 20, 30 miles. That is, in ideal conditions from high to low and outdoors and in ideal weather and blah blah blah. That's a pointless exaggeration. With standard UV-82 equipment we can communicate effectively about 1-2 miles beyond our suburbs, less in dense forests and more in open country. And that's fantastic for home radios. We have radios from another popular brand that don't even work that far and the box says it has a range of 32 miles. I receive Weather Channel broadcasts 30 miles away, sometimes more. The battery lasts for a long time in standby mode, but obviously falters with excessive use, i.e. several days in standby and several hours of continuous use, especially in broadcasting mode, or when the speaker is turned up very high during use. listen to the weather or monitor other channels. All of our radios have been abandoned, used by children running around, and so far none have broken. This is a wonderful device for $25-30.